Simultaneous transfer mechanism for calculating machines



Sept. 30, 1969 B. G. PIERO ETAL SIMULTANEOUS TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed June 4, 196? 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY W ATTORNEY v Sept. 30, 1969 8, HERO ET AL 3,469,778

SIMULTANEOUS TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed June 14, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 3 ATTORNEY United States Patent SIMULTANEOUS TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Barozzi Gian Piero and Horeschi Giancarlo, Tokyo,

Japan, assignors to Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed June 14, 1967, Ser. No. 646,093 Claims priority, application Italy, Aug. 1, 1966,

Im. Cl. G06(. 7710, /26, 9/00 US. Cl. 235-137 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention has for its object the provision of a column carrying mechanism for a calculator or the like apparatus, by which all columns in the apparatus are carried simultaneously during return movement of racks of a known type.

With conventional machines, i.e. column carrying devices comprising an accumulator consisting of a bar having a tooth and gears, a gear must be advanced one step when the preceding gear on the right-hand side has completed one full turn. Such a rotation of the gear is of course accomplished by a column carrying device. When the one-step movement is given to a gear which is about to complete its one revolution, a gear on the left-hand side is caused to make a one-step movement and as such the gears are moved successively. In the manner described, movement of a series of racks each associated with a respective gear takes place successively in sequence. In other words, movement of one rack is commenced upon completion of the movement of the preceding rack. As a result, the time required for the completion of a column carrying operation is the sum of the times required for the movements of each rack operating relative to a set number.

According to another form of the conventional machine, column carrying is effected -by transfer to another device. This device is adapted to retain a column having been fed therein and the column is transferred to an accumulator after the accumulator is disengage-d from the associated rack and engaged with said device.

However, according to this system, time is required for the disengagement and re-engagement of the accumul'ator and also for the transfer of the column from the device to the accumulator. Thus, it will be understood that the internal operation takes place within a period equivalent to the sum of the times for these two operations, which is obviously disadvantageous in respect of required calculating time.

The column carrying device according to the present invention has eliminated the foregoing drawbacks by effecting column carrying simultaneously as the return movement of the gears to their stationary positions and for all racks associated therewith all at once. The device of this invention is obviously advantageous in that a total time required for calculation is reduced remarkably since the time required for return movement is eliminated entirely and that the system used in the device is cheap in price, positive in operation and simple in construction.

The column carrying device of the invention includes, in addition to an ordinary accumulator consisting of a rack bar and a pair of gears adapted to alternatively engage said rack, first levers arranged adjacent the left-hand side surface of each rack and having two teeth parallel to the teeth of said rack for engagement with a cam of the aforementioned gear of the accumulator. The first lever is hooked by a fixed lateral shaft by one ordinary tooth and is pivoted to the adjacent rack on the left-hand side and which is located on a lowering bar when the rack is in a lowered position.

As will be understood from the foregoing, the first lever is operated by the cam of the accumulator gear which is driven by the rack on the right-hand side, when the column is required to be carried. In other words, the first lever is lowered by one of the cams during an adding or subtracting operation and thereby it is released from engagement with said fixed lateral shaft, whereupon the lever is released from engagement with the cam of the accumulator gear to prepare for the succeeding operation.

The lowering of the first lever causes simultaneous rocking motion of the associated second lever, which in turn causes the corresponding rocking motion of the third lever. The third lever comes in engagement with the lowering bar for the rack and is returned to the last tooth and causes one tooth (or one rack tooth) mOvement of the adjacent rack on the left-hand side through its one end pivoted to said rack.

As a result, when one of the racks is further lowered by one tooth from the position corresponding to zero by the aforementioned interlocking mechanism (that is the case where the left-hand gear is located in the position of 9 with the cam positioned on the tooth of the first lever), the adjacent rack on the left-hand side is also lowered by the same amount and thereby the adjacent rack operates in the manner as it did in the initial stage as mentioned previously and similarly simultaneously causes the adjacent rack on the left-hand side to lower. In the manner described, the movement is transmitted to the left end extremity relating to this operation.

Thus, the descending motions of all racks are effected simultaneously with the first rack, and when the first rack is lowered by one tooth all other racks are also lowered by one tooth, with the result that the accumulators engaging with these racks are rotated by one tooth. The rotation is transmitted to the adjacent first lever and the same cycle of operation as described above is repeated at the same time.

According to the present invention, however, when the first lever in engagement with the rack on the side on which the return movement takes place at the last is lowered by the cam of the accumulator gear before the return bar accomplishes the return movement of the rack or during the final stage of the return movement of the rack to the last tooth, the end of the third lever, operatively connected to the left-hand side rack, is moved one tooth downwardly by the combined effect of the ascending movement of the third lever and descending movement of the return bar, and at the same time return movement to the last tooth is effected.

The same process as that mentioned above also takes place when the first lever is lowered by the cam of the accumulator gear before the final stage of the movement of the return bar. This corresponds, for example, to the case wherein 9 or a number greater than 1 is further added to 9 set on the accumulator, the difference being that the third lever is in contact with the terminal end of the second lever which is already located in the raised position and to this third lever is imparted a rotating action by the movement of the return bar.

According to the present invention, column carrying for all associated racks is not performed outside the 3 period required for the completion of the normal return movement but is performed within the same period and the speed of the rack movement is increased by the operation corresponding to the return movement in the last stage.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which the column carrying device of the invention is illustrated as applied to a calculator having racks and in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional side view taken along the line II of FIG. 3, illustrating one form of the inventive device in operative position together with several parts of calculator;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional side view of the device shown in FIG. 1 in the position in which column carrying has been completed; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, reference numerals 1 and 1a designate opposite side walls respectively and 2 designates rack bars, which are usually present in a calculator. Although only one rack bar 2 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 together with the associating parts, the illustration is applicable to all other rack bars.

Reference numeral 5 designates a stopper for number carriages (not shown), 4 designates a lowering bar for lowering the rack bars 2, and 3 designates a spring mounted between a pin 2 on the rack bar 2 for constantly urging the rack bar upwardly against the force of the lowering bar 4.

Each rack bar is arranged in front of a pair of gears 8 and 9 which are mounted on spindles 6 and 7 respectively for rotation thereabout, said gears 8 and 9 constituting an accumulator. The movement of each rack bar is guided by a fixed cross bar 10. Provided on the left-hand side of each rack bar 2 is a first lever 14 which is provided With teeth 14a and 14b arranged in parallel to the teeth of the rack bar 2 and adapted for engagement with a half tooth-shaped cam 8a and 9a provided on one side of the gears 8 and 9 respectively of the accumulator.

The term right or left as used herein is the direction with respect to an operator who is standing on the key board side of the machine. Namely, these terms are the references as the device is viewed from the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 3.

The first lever 14 is also provided with teeth 14c and 14d for engagement with the cross bar a projection 15 for engagement with a return bar 21 to be described later, a projection 16 holding one end of a spring 17 the other end of which is connected to a fixed part of the machine and a projection 18 in articulated connection with one end 19a of a second lever 19.

The second lever 19 is mounted at its center on a shaft 20 and the other end 1912 thereof is in abutment against one end 12b of a third lever 12. The third lever 12 is mounted at the other end on a pin 13 on the adjacent rack bar 2 on the left-hand side. The third lever is also provided with a pin or projection 12a which is received in a curved slot 11 in the rack bar 2 for sliding movement therein and which serves to hold the third lever 12 against movement and to prevent it from dropping downwardly when the rack bar 2 is elevated. The third lever 12 is so arranged that its central curved portion 12c comes in abutment against the underside of the lateral bar 4 when the latter is in the lowered position after making a downward movement.

The return bar 21 engages the projection 15 of the first lever 14 which is secured at 19a, whereby, upon completion of the return operation, it enables all of the first levers 14 of the calculator to return to their original positions against the bias of the respective springs 17. Consequently, levers 19 and 12 and rack bars 2 are also returned to their original positions.

scribed hereunder with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Suppose that the gear 9 of the accumulator is in engagement with the teeth of a rack bar 2 on the right-hand side of the line II FIG. 3 and that the cam 9a on the side gear is in engagement with the tooth 14b of the first lever 14 as shown in FIG. 1. The first lever 14 is held in position by the tooth 14c resting on the cross bar 10 while being urged upwardly under the bias of the spring 17. In order to carry the columns, it will be seen that the gear of the accumulator, which has previously been rotated by nine teeth in the direction of the arrow A (FIGURE 1), must be brought into the position in which the cam 9a is located above the tooth 14b of the lever 14 as shown in FIG. 1.

When the accumulator gear is caused to rotate by moving the corresponding rack by setting a suitable number so as to add at least 1 to said gear, the gear 9 further rotates one tooth in the direction of the arrow A. The cam 9a comes in contact with the tooth 14b as shown in FIG. 2, causing the lever 14 to lower one step. The same operation takes place when the gear 8 and cam 8a are in engagement with the rack 2.

As the lever 14 moves in the downward direction in the manner described, the side surface of the tooth 14d sildes on the cross bar 10, the height of said side surface being in proportion of the movement of the rack. Upon completion of the movement of the lever 14, the tooth 14d is disengaged from the cross bar 10, with the result that the first lever '14 turns about the pivot 19a and is tilted under the action of the spring 17. The teeth 14a and 1412 are thereby disengaged from the cams 8a and respectively with which they have been in contact previously, and the projection 15 comes in abutment against the return bar 21, whereby return movement to the original position takes place. The lowering of the first lever 14 causes the end 19a of the second lever 19, mounted on the pin 29, to move downwardly. The other end 19b of the lever 19, therefore, is moved upwardly causing upward movement of the end 12b of the third lever 12. In this case, since the third lever 12 is in contact at a point with the bar 4 and is connected to the adjacent rack on the left-hand side by means of a pin 13 as shown in FIG. 3, the upward movement of the end 12b thereof causes lowering of said lefthand side rack bar 2 through the pin 13 by one tooth or one step.

The left-hand side rack bar 2, which is similarly in engagement with the accumulator gear 9, rotates said gear 9, which in turn causes lowering of the first lever on the left-hand side by way of its cam 9a. The cycle of operation described above is repeated for all associated rack bars and thus all rack bars are moved into the lowered positions simultaneously as seen in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, it should be noted that the propjection 2a of the rack bar is located below the level of the stopper 5 for the number carriage.

Upon completion of the column carrying operation the drive power for the machine causes the accumulator gears 8 and 9 to be disengaged from the rack and moves the return bar 21 towards the projection 15. The tooth 14d is disengaged from the cross bar 10, and all levers and the associated rack bars are returned to their original positions under the action of the spring 17.

As will be seen from the foregong description, the inventive device has the advantage that the movement of all associated rack bars takes place all at once and the cross bar 4 completes its function before it comes to rest in its stationary position, whereby the entire operating time is shortened as described previously.

The aforementioned column carrying operation achieved by simultaneous movement of the rack bars may also be accomplished by raising the end 12b of the third lever 12 by the use of the second lever 19, which is in direct contact with the cam of the accumulator gear, and suitable rocking means. In this case, the first lever 14 is eliminated and its function is absorbed by the lever 19 which is operatively associated with the engagement of the accumulator.

According to another form of modification, the accumulator consists of one or a pair of gears which is arranged for engagement with the rack bar always at the same point. In this form, the first lever is provided with only one tooth.

It will be apparent that many other modifications are possible to the embodiment described and illustrated herein in its construction and adaptability of the calculator, without deviating from the object of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A column carrying device provided with ordinary accumulator gears cooperating with rack bars, said device comprising a first lever provided for each rack bar, a cam means attached to each of said accumulator gears, said first lever being moved by the action of said cam means upon completion of one revolution caused by one of the accumulator gears, a second lever pivotally mounted at a mid-position thereof and having one end thereof in engagement with said first lever and the other end thereof in engagement with one end of a third lever, said third lever being coupled at its other end to one side of an adjacent rack bar and being coupled at a mid-position thereof with a lowering bar so as to perform a combined action of engagement at its end and contact with the lowering bar returning to its original position, said third lever also making movement responding to the movement of a first one of said rack bars from a first position to a second position, said movement of said first lever being simultaneously transmitted to the adjacent rack bar through the second lever and the third lever and thence to the accumulator gear in engagement therewith, whereby the movement is transmitted to all rack bars participating in the column carrying operation and said two operations are carried out simultaneously during a period corresponding to the movement of said first rack bar from said first position to said second position.

2. A column carrying device according to claim 1 in which said first lever is provided with a tooth and is held in its initial position against a fixed cross bar by said tooth at a level corresponding to the movement amount of the rack bar engaging therewith.

3. A column carrying device according to claim 2, in which said first lever is maintained in contact with said fixed cross bar under the action of a spring even when the first lever is moved downwardly by the action of the accumulator gear and said tooth is moved below said fixed cross bar, and upon movement downwardly, said first lever is disengaged from said accumulator gear which said first lever has been in contact with.

4. A column carrying device according to claim 2 in which said first lever is provided with a further tooth adapted to engage one of said cam means when said first lever is in one position, and adapted to be disengaged from said cam means when said first lever is in a predetermined diiferent position.

5. A column carrying device according to claim 1, in which said second lever is pivotally connected at its one end to said first lever.

6. A column carrying device according to claim 1, in which said third lever is pivoted to the left-hand side adjacent rack bar and has a limited movement range with respect to said rack bar.

7. A column carrying device according to claim 1 in which, during the period in which the lowering bar is making a movement corresponding to the final action or sequential combined action of said third lever with said second lever and said lowering bar, the moving speed of the adjacent rack bar is increased.

8. A column carrying device according to claim 1 in which a return bar is provided which is adapted to be moved by a reciprocatory movement for returning the first lever, the second lever, the third lever and the rack bar to their original position after said members have been moved by the column carrying action.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,153,299 4/1939 Dahlberg 235137 2,557,585 6/ 1951 Wockenfuss 235--137 2,794,592 6/1957 EXcell 235-138 X RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner STANLEY A. WAL, Assistant Examiner @3 3? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,469,778 Dated September 30, 1969 Invent0r($) Barozzi Gian Piero and Horeschi Giancarlo It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading of the patent, column 1 line 9, change the number of the Italian Priority Application from "29,O56"t0 20,956

V Li) A l Z ALS'D JAN 6 "1970 Attcst:

mum E. swim. IR- Edwll'd M- Fletcher, 11'- signer Q:

Attesting Officer 

